Refrigerator and refrigerant circulation apparatus and method for making ice

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a refrigerator comprises: a main body configured to have a storage space for storing food; a door provided on the main body configured to open and close to allow access to the storage space comprise, wherein the door includes an ice-making compartment and machine compartment. The machine compartment can include a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve. The ice-making compartment can include an ice machine that includes a tray capable of receiving and containing water; and a refrigerant pipe coupled to the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, and the tray, the refrigerant pipe configured to cool the tray by conduction.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0086080, filed on Jun. 17, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a refrigerator and a refrigerant circulation apparatus and method for making ice.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A refrigerator is an apparatus for storing food at a relatively low temperature and may be configured to store food in a frozen state or a refrigerated state. A decision to store food in a frozen state or refrigerated state may depend on the kind of food to be stored.

The interior of the refrigerator is cooled by supplied cold air, in which the cold air is typically generated by a temperature exchange action of a refrigerant according to a cooling cycle including compression, condensation, expansion and evaporation. The cold air supplied to the inside of the refrigerator can be distributed in the refrigerator by convection. Thus, items within the refrigerator can be stored at a desired temperature.

A refrigerator typically includes a main body having a rectangular parallelepiped shape with an open front side. A refrigerating compartment (e.g.; refrigerating space, portion, room, etc.) and a freezing compartment (e.g.: freezing space, portion, room, etc.) may be provided within the main body. A refrigerating compartment door and a freezing compartment door for selectively closing and opening the refrigerator compartment and the freezing compartment may be provided on the front side or surface of the main body. A plurality of drawers, shelves and container boxes for storing different kinds of food in a desired state may be provided in the internal storage spaces of the refrigerating compartment and freezing compartment.

Conventionally, mainstream refrigerators are top-mount-type refrigerators having a freezing compartment positioned at an upper side or portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment positioned at the lower side or portion of the refrigerator. There are also commercially available bottom-freeze-type refrigerators. Bottom-freeze-type refrigerators can enhance user convenience in which a more frequently-used refrigerating compartment is positioned at an upper portion of the refrigerator and a less frequently used freezing compartment is positioned at a lower portion of the refrigerator. This provides an advantage in that a user can conveniently use the refrigerating compartment. However, the bottom-freeze-type refrigerators (in which the freezing compartment is positioned at the lower portion or side) can pose an inconvenience when a user does access the freezing compartment, in that a user typically has to bend at the waist to open the freezing compartment door (e.g., to take out pieces of ice, food, etc.).

Traditional attempts at solving the above problem in the bottom freeze type refrigerators have included an ice dispenser installed in the refrigerating compartment or refrigerating compartment door in some implementations. In this approach, the refrigerating compartment door or the inside of the refrigerating compartment may be provided with an ice maker which generates ice.

The ice-making device may include an ice-making assembly provided with an ice tray for producing pieces of ice (e.g., in various shapes including cubes, cylindrical, semi-spherical, etc.), an ice bucket which stores the pieces of ice, and a feeder assembly which feeds the pieces of ice stored in the ice bucket to the dispenser.

In addition, a duct for ice making is provided on a left-side or right-side wall surface portion of the refrigerating compartment so as to allow cold air to flow from the freezing compartment to an ice making compartment (e.g., space, room, etc.) when a door is closed.

Accordingly, the duct for ice making and the ice maker compartment are coupled to each other when the door is closed, however the duct for ice making and the ice-maker compartment are separated from each other when the door is open. Thus, when the door is closed, cold air in the freezing compartment is supplied through the duct for ice making to the ice maker compartment and used to generate ice.

However, these conventional refrigerator embodiments can have the various problems.

First, since a duct for ice making may be provided on a left-side or right-side wall surface portion of a refrigerating compartment, and a structure for insulating the duct is added thereto, the internal capacity of the refrigerator is reduced. In addition, the pipe structure in the refrigerator can be complex.

Secondly, cold air can be transferred from a freezing compartment to an ice-making compartment only when a door is closed. Furthermore, the cold air passing through the duct for ice making is discharged to the outside when the door is open, so that the energy efficiency is reduced.

Thirdly, since ice making is achieved in an indirect cooling scheme in which ice is generated due to cold air supplied through a duct for ice making, direct cooling is not achieved and the ice-making speed is relatively slow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a refrigerator which does not require a duct for transferring cold air from the freezing space for ice making although an ice maker is provided on a refrigerating compartment door. In one embodiment, this approach can facilitate a simple structure and increased internal capacity. The approach can include a refrigerant circulation method for ice making in the refrigerator. In one exemplary implementation, a refrigerator enables the cooling of an ice-making compartment regardless of whether a door is opened or closed. In one embodiment, the described approach enables high energy efficiency and a refrigerant circulation method for ice making in the refrigerator.

In one embodiment, the present invention provides a refrigerator which enables ice making in a direct cooling scheme in an ice-making compartment provided on a door (e.g., rapidly producing ice, etc.) and a refrigerant circulation method for ice making in the refrigerator.

In one embodiment, a refrigerator comprises: a main body configured to have a storage space for storing food; a door provided on the main body configured to open and close to allow access to the storage space comprise, wherein the door includes an ice-making compartment and machine compartment. The machine compartment can include a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve. The ice-making compartment can include an ice machine that includes a tray capable of receiving and containing water; and a refrigerant pipe coupled to the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, and the tray, the refrigerant pipe configured to cool the tray by conduction.

In one embodiment, the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in the ice machine. At least a part of the refrigerant pipe can be configured to be in contact with a lower surface of the tray. In one exemplary implementation, the part of the refrigerant pipe which is in contact with the tray is formed in a “U” shape. The door can include a machine compartment, the machine compartment and the ice-making compartment are partitioned from each other by an insulating member, and the compressor and the condenser are disposed in the machine compartment. One surface constituting the machine compartment of the door has a through-hole formed in a surface of the door so that the machine compartment can allow air flow with the machine compartment exterior.

In one embodiment, a refrigerant circulation method for ice making in a refrigerator comprises: compressing refrigerant by a compressor included on a door of the refrigerator; condensing the refrigerant by a condenser which is included on the door and is coupled to the compressor; expanding the refrigerant by an expansion valve included on the door and is coupled to the condenser; and evaporating the refrigerant so as to cool the tray by conduction from a refrigerant pipe of which at least a part is in contact with one surface of a tray provided on the door.

In one embodiment, the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in an ice machine. In the evaporating step, the condenser can be cooled by exterior air introduced from outside into the door via a through-hole which is formed to allow air flow from outside the door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a door of a refrigerator is open in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating an ice machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view illustrating a refrigerant pipe and a tray provided inside the ice machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of a structure which is provided inside the ice machine shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary refrigerant circulation method for ice making in a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the current invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. In the following description, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may obscure the subject matter of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a door of a refrigerator is open in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. Refrigerator 1 may include: a main body 10 configured to form an outer appearance; a barrier 12 configured to partition food storage spaces formed within the main body 10 into an upper-side refrigerating compartment R and a lower-side freezing compartment F; and a door 20 provided on either of the side edges of a front surface of the main body 10. The door 20 configured to selectively open and close the refrigerating compartment R by rotary motion. The freezing compartment F can also have a door configured to selectively open and close the freezing compartment F.

In addition, the door 20 may include an ice-making compartment 22 provided with an ice machine 100 for generating ice, a machine compartment 24 including a compressor 242 and a condenser 244, and an insulating member 26 provided between the ice-making compartment 22 and the machine compartment 24. The insulating member 16 configured to separate the ice-making compartment 22 and machine compartment 24 from each other.

In one embodiment, the ice-making compartment 22 is provided on the door 20 for opening and closing the refrigerating compartment R of the main body 10. In another embodiment, where the ice-making compartment is provided on a door for opening and closing the freezing compartment F.

In one embodiment, the ice-making compartment 22 is formed at an upper portion of the door 20 and the machine compartment 24 is formed at a lower portion of the door 20. It is appreciated there can be a variety of different configurations and implementations. In one embodiment, the ice-making compartment 22 is formed at a lower portion of the door 20 and the machine compartment 24 is formed at an upper portion of the door 20.

The insulating member 26 may include a foaming agent, such as urethane foam, and may be provided to suppress heat exchange between the ice-making compartment 22 (e.g., which can have a relatively low temperature, etc.) and the machine compartment 24 (e.g., which can have a relatively high temperature, etc.).

The door 20 may include a covering member which covers a surface facing the main body 10 so that the ice-making compartment 22 and the machine compartment 24 are not exposed to the outside even when the door 20 is open. In addition, when the door 20 is closed the covering member may have a function of insulating the internal space of the door 20 from the main body 10 and refrigerating compartment R. The covering member may include a foaming agent corresponding to the entire surface of the door 20. For convenience of description, FIG.1 is illustrated with the covering member omitted.

In addition, the door 20 may be provided with an insulating material (e.g., on the perimeters, circumferences, edges, etc.) so as not to leak internal cold air to the outside, and thus may be insulated from the outside. The insulating material may form an insulating seal on the edges of the door 20 when it is closed.

The door 20 may be provided with the compressor 242 and the condenser 244 in the inside of the machine compartment 24. In addition, an expansion valve (not shown) for use in controlling a freezing cycle may also be included (e.g., disposed inside of the machine compartment 24, disposed in the inside of the insulating member 26, etc.).

The compressor 242 may be a compressor which is smaller than a compressor generally provided in the main body of a refrigerator. In one exemplary implementation, compressor 242 is small enough to be installed in the machine compartment 24 included in door 20. An example of a smaller compressor is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2013-0048817.

The condenser 244 may be coupled to the rear end of the compressor 242 through a refrigerant pipe 248. Compressed high-temperature high-pressure refrigerant may be converted by the compressor 242 into middle-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant. In addition, the condenser 244 size may be configured to fit in the internal space machine compartment 24 included in door 20.

The compressor 242 and the condenser 244 may be coupled to a power supply device (not shown) provided in the main body 10 so as to be supplied with electric power. In one exemplary implementation, cables which couple the compressor 242 and condenser 244 to the power supply device of the main body 10 may be provided in such a manner as to pass through a hinge pipe that can be included in the rotation shaft of the door 20.

A through-hole 246 may be formed in one surface of the door 20 which corresponds to the machine compartment 24 so that the machine compartment 24 can allow air flow with the refrigerator exterior when the door 20 is open. In one embodiment, when the door 20 is open the condenser 244 can be cooled by air from outside the machine compartment 24 introduced into the inside of the machine compartment 24 via the through-hole 246. The cool air can allow the refrigerant in the condenser 244 to be condensed. In one exemplary implementation, The condenser 244 may be provided on the surface of the machine compartment 24 with a hole for introducing air from outside the machine compartment 24, and a structure for heat exchange between refrigerant and air from outside the machine compartment 24 introduced through the hole may flow inside to the condenser 244.

The refrigerant pipe 248 couples the compressor 242 and the condenser 244 and is extended from the rear end of the condenser 244 to the ice-making compartment 22 at an upper portion of the door 20 through the insulating member 26. The refrigerant pipe 248 is also coupled to the ice machine 100 in the ice-making compartment 22.

A detailed configuration of the ice machine 100 provided in the ice-making compartment 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 through 4.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating the ice machine shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view illustrating a refrigerant pipe and a tray provided inside the ice machine shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a part of a structure which is provided inside the ice machine shown in FIG. 1.

In one embodiment, the ice machine 100 include a body or case 110, an ice-making assembly 120, an ice bucket 130, a transfer assembly 140, and an outlet part 150. The case 110 may include a cooling space for generating ice. The ice-making assembly 120 may be disposed at an upper side in the cooling space. The ice bucket 130 may be disposed under the ice-making assembly 120.

The ice-making assembly 120 may include a tray 122 which provides a frame for receiving water and generating ice, and a rotation part 124 for rotating the tray 122 to drop ice generated in the tray 122.

The tray 122 provides a space for receiving water from a water supply pipe (not shown) or the like and freezing the water to make ice. The tray 122 may include a plurality of spaces formed to hold water that flows into the spaces from an upper open side. The formed spaces may have various shapes according to the desired shape of the ice to be produced. It is appreciated that there can be a variety of different space shapes and corresponding ice shapes. The tray 122 may be made of a metal having a high heat conductivity. In one exemplary implementation, the metal is aluminum. As the tray 122 has a higher heat conductivity, the heat exchange rate between the tray 122 and refrigerant flowing along the refrigerant pipe can be further improved.

The refrigerant pipe 248 extended from the machine compartment 24 may be in contact with a lower surface of the tray 122, wherein a portion of the refrigerant pipe 248 being in contact with the tray 122 may be referred to as a contact portion 2482. The contact portion 2482 may be formed in a “U” shape as illustrated in FIG. 3. Specifically, the contact portion 2482 may be formed in such a manner as to extend from one end of the tray 122, bend 180° around the other end of the tray 122, extend back to the one end of the tray 122, and then couple to the machine compartment 24.

The contact portion 2482 may be formed in such a manner as to be bent multiple times so as to traverse multiple times on the lower surface of the tray 122.

In one embodiment, the contact portion 2482 may be configured to be in simple surface contact with the lower surface of the tray 122, or may be configured to be in strong contact with the lower surface of the tray 122 (e.g., by an adhesive agent, a coupling member, etc.) in order to increase the heat transfer efficiency.

Accordingly, refrigerant, which is subjected to compressing and condensing processes in the machine compartment 24 and then expanded and cooled by the expansion valve, is transferred to the contact portion 2482 of the refrigerant pipe 248. The transferred refrigerant freezes water held in the tray 122 via the contact portion 2482 and the tray 122. The water frozen as described above is phase- transformed to generate ice. In one embodiment, the contact portion 2482 of the refrigerant pipe 248 functions as a evaporator in a cooling cycle.

Generally, traditional refrigerators having an ice maker provided on a door generate cold air through heat exchange between refrigerant and air, and then supplies the cold air to a tray via a duct for cold air by a blower or the like, so that ice is generated by an indirect cooling scheme through heat exchange between gas and solid. In some traditional attempts, since the heat exchange between gas and solid is usually considered to perform poorly, it can take a relatively long time to generate ice.

In contrast, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since ice is generated by a direct cooling scheme through solid-solid heat exchange between the refrigerant pipe 248 and the tray 122, the heat exchange performance is relatively better, so that the period of time required to generate ice can be remarkably reduced compared to traditional approaches.

Meanwhile, the ice made as described above may be dropped to the ice bucket 130, which is disposed under the tray 122, by the rotation part 124. Specifically, the upper surface of the tray 122 may be rotated to be oriented to the lower-side ice bucket 130 according to the rotation of a rotary shaft (not shown) of the rotation part 124, the tray 122 may be twisted by interference of a predetermined interference member (not shown) when the tray 122 is rotated over a specific angle, and, by such twisting, pieces of ice accommodated in the tray 122 may be dropped to the inside of the ice bucket 130.

In addition, a plurality of ejectors (not shown) may be provided in the length direction of the rotary shaft, and in this case, ice may be discharged from the tray 122 only by rotation of the ejectors without rotation of the tray 122.

The transfer assembly 140 performs a function of transferring ice to the outlet part 150, and may include an auger 142, a motor housing 144, and an auger motor 146.

The auger 142 may be a rotary member which has a screw or wings having a spiral shape, and is rotated by the auger motor 146. The auger 142 may be included in the ice bucket 130. Pieces of ice stacked in the ice bucket 130 may be inserted into gaps between the wings of the auger 142, and may be transferred to the outlet part 150 when the auger 142 is rotated. In addition, the auger motor 146 may be included in the motor housing 144.

The outlet part 150 may be coupled to a dispenser (not shown) provided in the door 20, and ice transferred by the transfer assembly 140 according to user's selection may be provided to the user through the dispenser. In addition, although it is not shown, the outlet part 150 may be provided with a cutting member capable of cutting ice into a predetermined size.

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the refrigerator 1 having the aforementioned configuration according to one embodiment will be described.

In one embodiment, refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe 248 may be cooled through the compressor, the condenser and the expansion valve, which are provided on the door 20 for opening and closing the main body 10. The refrigerant cooled as described above is supplied to the contact portion 2482, where the refrigerant pipe 248 is in contact with the tray 122, and thus the tray 122 is directly cooled from the refrigerant.

The tray 122 may be supplied with water by a water supply means, which is not shown, and the water supplied to the tray 122 can be cooled by the contact portion 2482 and thus can be phase-transformed to generate ice.

In one example implementation, the refrigerant may flow to the contact portion 2482 by compressive force supplied from the compressor 242.

The ice made in the tray 122, as described above, may be dropped downward by an operation of the rotation part 124, and may be stacked in the ice bucket 130 disposed under the tray 122.

Meanwhile, the refrigerant, which is transferred to the contact portion 2482 via the expansion valve and then is heat-exchanged with the tray 122, may again be transferred to the machine compartment 24 via the refrigerant pipe 248. The refrigerant transferred to the machine compartment 24 may be introduced into the compressor 242 so as to again start a freezing cycle.

In accordance with one embodiment, the piping structure of the refrigerator is simplified, the internal capacity and the space utilization of the refrigerator is increased, the efficiency of energy used for cooling increases, and a high ice-making speed is achieved.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary refrigerant circulation method for ice making in a refrigerator in accordance with one embodiment. In one embodiment, a refrigerant circulation method for ice making in a refrigerator comprises: compressing refrigerant by a compressor included on a door of the refrigerator (e.g., S510); condensing the refrigerant by a condenser which is included on the door and is coupled to the compressor (e.g., S520); expanding the refrigerant by an expansion valve included on the door and is coupled to the condenser (e.g., S530); and evaporating the refrigerant so as to cool the tray by conduction from a refrigerant pipe of which at least a part is in contact with one surface of a tray provided on the door (e.g., S540). In one embodiment, the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in an ice machine. In the evaporating step, the condenser can be cooled by exterior air introduced from outside into the door via a through-hole which is formed to allow air flow from outside the door.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents. The listing of steps within method claims do not imply any particular order to performing the steps, unless explicitly stated in the claim. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body configured to have a storage space for storing food; a door provided on the main body configured to open and close to allow access to the storage space comprise, wherein the door includes an ice-making compartment and machine compartment; wherein the machine compartment includes a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve; wherein the ice-making compartment includes an ice machine that includes a tray capable of receiving and containing water; and a refrigerant pipe coupled to the compressor, the condenser, the expansion valve, and the tray, the refrigerant pipe configured to cool the tray by conduction.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in the ice machine.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein at least a part of the refrigerant pipe is configured to be in contact with a lower surface of the tray.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 3, wherein the part of the refrigerant pipe which is in contact with the tray is formed in a “U” shape.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the door includes a machine compartment, the machine compartment and the ice-making compartment are partitioned from each other by an insulating member, and the compressor and the condenser are disposed in the machine compartment.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 5, wherein one surface constituting the machine compartment of the door has a through-hole formed in a surface of the door so that the machine compartment can allow air flow with the machine compartment exterior.
 7. A refrigerant circulation method for ice making in a refrigerator, the method comprising the steps of: compressing refrigerant by a compressor included on a door of the refrigerator; condensing the refrigerant by a condenser which is included on the door and is coupled to the compressor; expanding the refrigerant by an expansion valve included on the door and is coupled to the condenser; and evaporating the refrigerant so as to cool the tray by conduction from a refrigerant pipe of which at least a part is in contact with one surface of a tray included in the door.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in an ice machine.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein, in the evaporating step, the condenser is cooled by exterior air introduced from outside into the door via a through-hole which is formed to allow air flow from outside the door.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein at least a part of the refrigerant pipe is configured to be in contact with a lower surface of the tray.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the part of the refrigerant pipe which is in contact with the tray is formed in a “U” shape.
 12. A refrigerator door comprising: a machine compartment including a compressor, a condenser and an expansion valve; an ice machine in an ice-making compartment, wherein the ice machine includes a tray capable of receiving and accommodating water; and a refrigerant pipe coupled to the compressor, the condenser and the expansion valve, and the refrigerant configured to cool the tray by conduction.
 13. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein the tray functions as an evaporator based on a cooling cycle for generating ice in the ice machine.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein at least a part of the refrigerant pipe is configured to be in contact with a lower surface of the tray.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the part of the refrigerant pipe which is in contact with the tray is formed in a “U” shape.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein the door includes a machine compartment, the machine compartment and the ice-making compartment are partitioned from each other by an insulating member, and the compressor and the condenser are disposed in the machine compartment.
 17. The refrigerator of claim 16, wherein one surface constituting the machine compartment of the door has a through-hole formed there through, and through the through-hole when the door is open. 